Growing Hops

Hops are an essential ingredient in beer, but they are also a terrific shade vine for
gardeners. Whether you make home brew or not, they are vigorous, reliable perennial vines. Hops
are leafy and beautiful and cover a trellis thoroughly in the course of a summer. They die to
the ground when frost comes, but can be relied upon to come back every spring.

Growing hops is easy. They need well-worked soil in a sunny spot (with six to eight hours of
sun). The rhizomes merely have to be planted with the growth tips facing up. Hops vines (which
are called bines) take off when the soil and air temperatures warm up in spring. Even their
first year, the bines may grow 15 feet or more. Once they are established, they can grow up to
25 feet during the growing season, and produce up to two pounds of hops flowers. Home brewers
train their hops up a sturdy pole — selecting three or four vigorous bines and pruning the rest
off. If you are growing hops for shade, an arbor or pergola will support them easily.

The hop variety Mt. Hood, which is prized for its hardiness, disease-resistance, and prolific
production of aromatic flowers, was hybridized in the United States in the 1980s from
traditional German Hallertau hops. It is well known in the Pacific Northwest, where hops are a
tremendous commercial crop, but it grows well throughout the country and even thrives in warm
climates. Among brewers, it is used for lager, pilsner, bock beer, wheat beer, and Munich-style
Helles lager. One beer expert describes it as having a “clean but somewhat pungent and spicy
aroma”. The vines start to bloom in late summer, and the pale green flower clusters, called
cones, hang gracefully from among the leaves, like decorative oregano flowers. They ripen in
the sun and, after harvesting, the papery cones are dried. After the harvest, hops bines can be
cut back to about three feet, or you can simply wait for frost to kill them, then cut them
back, mulch over the top, and wait until next year.